Category: Posts by BARBIE POLING

My feet were getting cold as I stood on the cement floor of our basement going through a very old grey filing cabinet filled with my parents’ files. I’m in the final process of resolving my parents’ estate, and I need to find some specific documents. The musty smell of the old files wafted past… Continue reading Remembering

This past month, our local Lifestyle of Learning™ community of families has been suffering from a whooping cough epidemic. I had heard of whooping cough before, but I had no idea of how contagious and how serious it is until this month. I have to say, I know more than I want to know about… Continue reading Whooping Cough and the Flesh

“If I do Lifestyle of Learning™, and I let my child learn what he is motivated to learn, will he be able to pass tests?” This is a question about Lifestyle of Learning™ we hear often. Learning how to take tests is a very simple matter that can be quickly explained to most anyone over… Continue reading Much More Than Passing Tests

Mrs. Albert decided to take her kids to a nice park for the day. She got ready for the day by finding some park curriculum on the internet. She was really glad to find out she could get some for free, because she wanted to make sure that her children wouldn’t have any gaps in… Continue reading Assignment-Driven Park Visit

The kids and I were in an auto accident last November. As a result, I’m now seeing a couple different therapists for my injuries. Therefore, I’ve been meeting several new people who ask general conversation starting questions as they spend various amounts of time with me. I’ve been struck, once again, how our culture shapes… Continue reading Putting Off Assumption

Mrs. Albert decided to take her children for a hike in the woods. She remembered going on a hike or two when she was young, but she’d never actually been the one in charge of organizing and leading a hike before. She prepared herself for the hike by getting several books about hiking. She read… Continue reading A Subject-Divided Hike

The other day I was talking with one of my kids about some work that needed to be done. She didn’t want to do it. She had many reasons why she couldn’t do it. Finally, she said, “Well, I guess I should do it.” She was less than enthused with her own answer, and so… Continue reading Duty Swallowed Up in Love

“It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…” Actually, at our house, it’s been looking a lot like Christmas for more than a couple of weeks now. We went to get our Christmas tree and decorated it together. We got out our snowflake dishes for setting the table with the snowflake table-cloth, napkins and runner… Continue reading Ill Will or Good Will?

I recently had the privilege of helping my friend Christi with her new baby. While she and her husband got rested up from the birth process, my children and I got to take care of their 6 other kids. It’s been a while since I cared for such young ones, and some of my experiences… Continue reading Train Their Hearts to be Teachable